Article 16 of Directive 79/267/EEC shall be replaced by the following:
'Article 16
The Member State of the branch shall provide that, where an assurance undertaking authorized in another Member State carries on business through a branch, the competent authorities of the home Member State may, after having first informed the competent authorities of the Member State of the branch, carry out themselves, or through the intermediary of persons they appoint for that purpose, on-the-spot verification of the information necessary to ensure the financial supervision of the undertaking. The authorities of the Member State of the branch may participate in that verification'.